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woahno's review
5.0
For starters, my standard disclaimer: I'm using this space to review just "Homecoming" by Robin Hobb. There are other authors and stories in this anthology that interest me as well and hopefully one day I will get to them and update this. I really wish we could get a listing that wasn't tied to a particular publication but that is a pipe dream.
"Homecoming" is a novella that takes place mostly in the Rain Wilds. Lady Carillion Carrock is the only point of view providing the reader with diary entries nearly every day on her journey from Jamillia to the Rain Wilds. She is a woman of noble birth- as she reminds us frequently- and is thrust into a much more uncivilized lifestyle by this quest. She is one of those Hobb characters that annoys me greatly before experiencing lots of growth and winning me over in the end. In retrospect, I'm actually more in awe of how this was accomplished than I was while going through it. Hobb is a master crafter of character and this story puts that skill on full display. It also delivers some interesting world building. I was fully engaged while reading this and absolutely loved it. On to the Rain Wild Chronicles for me.
"Homecoming" is a novella that takes place mostly in the Rain Wilds. Lady Carillion Carrock is the only point of view providing the reader with diary entries nearly every day on her journey from Jamillia to the Rain Wilds. She is a woman of noble birth- as she reminds us frequently- and is thrust into a much more uncivilized lifestyle by this quest. She is one of those Hobb characters that annoys me greatly before experiencing lots of growth and winning me over in the end. In retrospect, I'm actually more in awe of how this was accomplished than I was while going through it. Hobb is a master crafter of character and this story puts that skill on full display. It also delivers some interesting world building. I was fully engaged while reading this and absolutely loved it. On to the Rain Wild Chronicles for me.
anobrega85's review
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
101mystic's review
4.0
A couple of the stories whereby my thing, but I was pleased by this one that at least a number of them had semi pronounceable names, unlike the last epic fantasy short story anthology I read. I enjoyed the stories and found them a good collection of short fiction of epic fantasy.
leons1701's review
4.0
An excellent collection. A bit disappointed that it included no new material, but most of it was from collections or magazines I haven't read yet, so it was new to me. The two pieces that weren't were the Sanderson and Rothfuss stories, as both were parts of novels I've read previously. I think the Rothfuss works better as a short, the Sanderson piece seems to assume a bit too much familiarity with the world and is somewhat lacking in both conflict and resolution. I will say that this collection served it's purpose remarkably well, several authors I was unsure of have now been added to my to read pile and several more were completely new to me and will now be getting a look.
jackiijackii's review
4.0
A great sample of fantasy authors' work, from very short stories to much longer ones, chapters of books and stand-alone works. Basically, if you put Rothfuss and Bacigalupi and Le Guin in an anthology together, I'm going to read it. And often, I'll even discover new authors to read. In this case that's Robin Hobb: "Homecoming" was a perfect way to introduce the anthology, and I liked it enough to add the trilogy it prefaces to my to-read list.
asweetdevouring's review
4.0
Overall this is a really strong collection of fantasy stories. While reading these stories the main things I considered were "how good is the worldbuilding?" (this is an epic fantasy collection after all), and "how well does this story stand on its own?" (given that the majority of the tales take place within larger series). These factors are in addition to the normal considerations of idea, plot, character, pacing, and language.
A note: a rating of 4 from me means that the story was well crafted and enjoyable, but lacked anything about it that made me go "wow, I need more of this RIGHT NOW." The stories that I gave 5 stars to were so good that I either purchased a book from the author because of it or moved an already owned book to my short tbr list. A 4 star story is an author I will read more of in the future, but not necessarily ASAP.
~*~
✥ "Homecoming" by Robin Hobb - 5 - Wow, what a story to kick off with. Every factor here is incredibly well done. The story had me fighting sleep to stay up and read and the world felt real enough that I actually got out of bed to turn on a light because of how creeped out I was getting. The story stands completely on its own while also making me incredibly eager to start the VERY long series it belongs in. So much so that I have already purchased [b:Assassin's Apprentice|77197|Assassin's Apprentice (Farseer Trilogy, #1)|Robin Hobb|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1464570795l/77197._SY75_.jpg|171715].
✥ "The Word of Unbinding" by Ursula K. Le Guin - 3 - The language here is stunning (as it always is with Le Guin), but the story itself is a little too cut-and-dry with too neat an ending. I've already read Earthsea (and love it), but had I not, I'm doubtful that this story would have had me rushing to start it.
✥ "The Burning Man" by Tad Williams - 2 - It took me days to finish this one and when I wasn't reading it I had trouble recalling what the story was about. The bones of the story aren't bad and the writing is fine, but the story is dragged out over an incredibly basic setting with generic characters that made it difficult to care about anything that happened.
✥ "As the Wheel Turns" by Aliette de Bodard - 5 - Fantastic use of mythology within a real world setting. The story grabs you from the first sentence and doesn't give you a chance of letting go.
✥ "The Alchemist" by Paolo Bacigalupi - 4 - A really well built world and story with good characters and pacing that stands perfectly on its own.
✥ "Sandmagic" by Orson Scott Card - N/A - Card is a misogynistic, homophobic, racist who I will not spend any of my time on.
✥ "The Road to Levinshir" by Patrick Rothfuss - 3 - a decent side story, but I think the fact that I have already read the Kingkiller Chronicle hindered my enjoyment of this piece. Kvothe felt very out of character for large parts of this story. Further, there is almost no worldbuilding within the story itself aside from name dropping people, terms, and locations that are meaningless if you haven't done 2000 pages of reading before starting.
✥ "Rysn" by Brandon Sanderson - 2 - a piece that has almost no story and is completely centered on world building. Which would be fine if that "world building" wasn't done in the laziest was possible. The whole thing boils down into a 7 page list of how "things are the opposite in our world from yours."
✥ "While the Gods Laugh" by Michael Moorcock - 1 - The worst story in the collection. The biggest issue here is that the female main character is nothing more than an object used to create situations where the male hero can show off how much smarter, braver, and more selfless he is than her. Elric ignores, curses, and belittles her every chance he gets - in between sleeping with her, ofc. Something he does immediately after stating how "above" he is of such a thing. He actually says he does it just because she's there, so why not? Yikes. I will not be reading more of Moorcock.
✥ "Mother of All Russiya" by Melanie Rawn - 4 - an excellent piece of mythology inspired historical fiction. Rawn brought the characters, setting, and time period to life in a way that felt effortless.
✥ "Riding the Shore of the River of Death" by Kate Elliott - 4- I'll be honest, I was dubious about the story when the author was introduced as having written a "Afro-celtic post-Roman icepunk regency adventure fantasy with swords, sharks, and lawyer dinosaurs" trilogy, because with an intro like that its got an 80/20 change of being the worst thing ever written. After reading this short, however, I'm a lot more confident that the trilogy is in that 20% of being bizarrely great. The world building here is very smoothly done and the plot is well paced. The only thing holding me back from giving this one 5 stars is that the end fight scene was hard to follow due to the way the setting is described. Hows that guy fighting on horseback in "a scar in the rocks"? Was it a cave? A clearing? a tunnel? I don't know. But I do know that I will be starting the first book in the series this story is from very soon.
✥ "The Bound Man" by Mary Robinette Kowal - 3 - this one starts off very strong with characters that instantly pull you into the story. Unfortunately the pacing in the second half, and an oddly placed, unclear time jump detract drastically from the overall quality of the idea.
✥ "The Narcomancer" by N. K. Jemisin - 4- strong world building, plot, and characters in a story that manages to stand completely on its own while still being a good introduction into Jemisin's [b:The Dreamblood Duology|29808317|The Dreamblood Duology|N.K. Jemisin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1481589680l/29808317._SY75_.jpg|50141409].
✥ "Strife Lingers in Memory" by Carrie Vaughn - 4- this is the second Vaughn story that I have really enjoyed and the second one that deals with a side of the traditional fantasy story that is rarely ever seen or dealt with. The first focused on what happens to the people left behind when a chosen one disappears into another world, while this one tackles the "happily ever after" in a realistic, dark, but ultimately hopeful way.
✥ "The Mad Apprentice" by Trudi Canavan - 3 - this is a fast paced little story with an interesting magic system that would have been a solid four if the plot had not been as predictable as a recipe for hamburgers.
✥ "Otherling" by Juliet Marillier - 4 - An interesting, unique idea that is well executed in a world that is elegantly brought to life through Marillier's imagery and prose.
✥ "The Mystery Knight" by George R. R. Martin - 3- a fun story, but is better enjoyed if you have read the previous novella, [b:The Hedge Knight|13501|The Hedge Knight (The Tales of Dunk and Egg, #1)|Ben Avery|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1443806558l/13501._SY75_.jpg|15648], first.
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A note: a rating of 4 from me means that the story was well crafted and enjoyable, but lacked anything about it that made me go "wow, I need more of this RIGHT NOW." The stories that I gave 5 stars to were so good that I either purchased a book from the author because of it or moved an already owned book to my short tbr list. A 4 star story is an author I will read more of in the future, but not necessarily ASAP.
~*~
✥ "Homecoming" by Robin Hobb - 5 - Wow, what a story to kick off with. Every factor here is incredibly well done. The story had me fighting sleep to stay up and read and the world felt real enough that I actually got out of bed to turn on a light because of how creeped out I was getting. The story stands completely on its own while also making me incredibly eager to start the VERY long series it belongs in. So much so that I have already purchased [b:Assassin's Apprentice|77197|Assassin's Apprentice (Farseer Trilogy, #1)|Robin Hobb|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1464570795l/77197._SY75_.jpg|171715].
✥ "The Word of Unbinding" by Ursula K. Le Guin - 3 - The language here is stunning (as it always is with Le Guin), but the story itself is a little too cut-and-dry with too neat an ending. I've already read Earthsea (and love it), but had I not, I'm doubtful that this story would have had me rushing to start it.
✥ "The Burning Man" by Tad Williams - 2 - It took me days to finish this one and when I wasn't reading it I had trouble recalling what the story was about. The bones of the story aren't bad and the writing is fine, but the story is dragged out over an incredibly basic setting with generic characters that made it difficult to care about anything that happened.
✥ "As the Wheel Turns" by Aliette de Bodard - 5 - Fantastic use of mythology within a real world setting. The story grabs you from the first sentence and doesn't give you a chance of letting go.
✥ "The Alchemist" by Paolo Bacigalupi - 4 - A really well built world and story with good characters and pacing that stands perfectly on its own.
✥ "Sandmagic" by Orson Scott Card - N/A - Card is a misogynistic, homophobic, racist who I will not spend any of my time on.
✥ "The Road to Levinshir" by Patrick Rothfuss - 3 - a decent side story, but I think the fact that I have already read the Kingkiller Chronicle hindered my enjoyment of this piece. Kvothe felt very out of character for large parts of this story. Further, there is almost no worldbuilding within the story itself aside from name dropping people, terms, and locations that are meaningless if you haven't done 2000 pages of reading before starting.
✥ "Rysn" by Brandon Sanderson - 2 - a piece that has almost no story and is completely centered on world building. Which would be fine if that "world building" wasn't done in the laziest was possible. The whole thing boils down into a 7 page list of how "things are the opposite in our world from yours."
✥ "While the Gods Laugh" by Michael Moorcock - 1 - The worst story in the collection. The biggest issue here is that the female main character is nothing more than an object used to create situations where the male hero can show off how much smarter, braver, and more selfless he is than her. Elric ignores, curses, and belittles her every chance he gets - in between sleeping with her, ofc. Something he does immediately after stating how "above" he is of such a thing. He actually says he does it just because she's there, so why not? Yikes. I will not be reading more of Moorcock.
✥ "Mother of All Russiya" by Melanie Rawn - 4 - an excellent piece of mythology inspired historical fiction. Rawn brought the characters, setting, and time period to life in a way that felt effortless.
✥ "Riding the Shore of the River of Death" by Kate Elliott - 4- I'll be honest, I was dubious about the story when the author was introduced as having written a "Afro-celtic post-Roman icepunk regency adventure fantasy with swords, sharks, and lawyer dinosaurs" trilogy, because with an intro like that its got an 80/20 change of being the worst thing ever written. After reading this short, however, I'm a lot more confident that the trilogy is in that 20% of being bizarrely great. The world building here is very smoothly done and the plot is well paced. The only thing holding me back from giving this one 5 stars is that the end fight scene was hard to follow due to the way the setting is described. Hows that guy fighting on horseback in "a scar in the rocks"? Was it a cave? A clearing? a tunnel? I don't know. But I do know that I will be starting the first book in the series this story is from very soon.
✥ "The Bound Man" by Mary Robinette Kowal - 3 - this one starts off very strong with characters that instantly pull you into the story. Unfortunately the pacing in the second half, and an oddly placed, unclear time jump detract drastically from the overall quality of the idea.
✥ "The Narcomancer" by N. K. Jemisin - 4- strong world building, plot, and characters in a story that manages to stand completely on its own while still being a good introduction into Jemisin's [b:The Dreamblood Duology|29808317|The Dreamblood Duology|N.K. Jemisin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1481589680l/29808317._SY75_.jpg|50141409].
✥ "Strife Lingers in Memory" by Carrie Vaughn - 4- this is the second Vaughn story that I have really enjoyed and the second one that deals with a side of the traditional fantasy story that is rarely ever seen or dealt with. The first focused on what happens to the people left behind when a chosen one disappears into another world, while this one tackles the "happily ever after" in a realistic, dark, but ultimately hopeful way.
✥ "The Mad Apprentice" by Trudi Canavan - 3 - this is a fast paced little story with an interesting magic system that would have been a solid four if the plot had not been as predictable as a recipe for hamburgers.
✥ "Otherling" by Juliet Marillier - 4 - An interesting, unique idea that is well executed in a world that is elegantly brought to life through Marillier's imagery and prose.
✥ "The Mystery Knight" by George R. R. Martin - 3- a fun story, but is better enjoyed if you have read the previous novella, [b:The Hedge Knight|13501|The Hedge Knight (The Tales of Dunk and Egg, #1)|Ben Avery|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1443806558l/13501._SY75_.jpg|15648], first.
Follow me on Twitter for more reviews and other bookish things.
annabcarey's review
4.0
I had to skip several stories in the second half of the book because it had to go back to the library, but there are definitely some gems in here. Predictably, George R. R. Martin's contribution could have been a small book by itself, and I didn't have time to read it. The NK Jemisin story was stellar, the Rothfuss contribution was great but, I believe, pulled from The Wise Man's Fear and maybe given a bit more detail, and the Baciagalupi piece gave me nightmares. Overall a wonderful collection from some of my favourite authors in speculative fiction.
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